The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

BLOG POST

<p> On the bus this morning I was handed a survey asking me to detail my satisfaction with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority&#39;s public transit system. As a daily bus commuter, I was more than happy to spend my two cents, but I&#39;m a bit skeptical that those two cents will really do anything.

May 5 - Nate Berg

<p>Small car sales, especially hybrids and subcompacts, are jumping while pickups and SUV sales plummet, contributing to a reduction in gas consumption. The $3.50 gallon mark may have been key to influencing vehicle selection as well as driver behavior.</p>

May 5 - The New York Times

<p>In the mid-1980s New Zealand sold its national rail assets to private industry in hopes of developing a profitable, efficient rail network. With deteriorating infrastructure and a desire for greener transit, the government has decided to buy it back.</p>

May 5 - The New Zealand Herald

<p>Suburban Salt Lake cities are squabbling over who should host a possible station for the area's new commuter rail system. The city seen as the best choice doesn't want a station, while another city is doing all it can to lure the system.</p>

May 5 - The Salt Lake Tribune

<p>High rates of obesity and diabetes are being correlated to high concentrations of fast food restaurants in neighborhoods. Some look to zoning as a solution.</p>

May 5 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>Two new classifications of land in Denver -- areas of change and areas of stability -- are moving the city's redevelopment and densification plans forward.</p>

May 5 - The Rocky Mountain News

<p>According to RPA Executive Director Robert Yaro, global competition requires that the United States focus on regions for future infrastructure investment.</p>

May 5 - The Planning Report

BLOG POST

Once every few semesters, I teach a seminar on &quot;Sprawl and the Law.&quot; On the first day of the seminar, I ask students what &quot;sprawl&quot; is. After getting a variety of answers, I reveal the truth: most definitions of sprawl involve one of two separate definitions: <p> &quot;<strong>Where we grow</strong>&quot;- Sprawl as movement from the core to the fringe of a region. </p> <p> &quot;<strong>How we grow</strong>&quot;- Sprawl as development oriented towards drivers as opposed to nondrivers. </p>

May 5 - Michael Lewyn

<p>Students at Bridgewater-Raritan High School in New Jersey are protesting after the principal refused to accept a new bike rack as a gift from the school's environmental club.</p>

May 5 - Streetsblog

<p>The bursting of the housing bubble may be tied to rising gas prices, according to one economist.</p>

May 5 - The Oregonian

<p>Despite planners' love-hate relationship with it, Las Vegas is a hotbed of great city-making, according to this post from <em>California Planning and Development Report</em>.</p>

May 5 - California Planning & Development Report

FEATURE

May 5 - Ishmael Sanchez

<p>Developers and politicians in L.A. are stealthily moving forward with plans to build a skyscraper in the heart of Hollywood -- a 40-story project that would tower high over existing development in the area.</p>

May 5 - LA Weekly

<p>Efforts to redevelop a blighted commercial plaza in South Los Angeles have proved fruitless -- angering residents who say the city has ignored them and allowed taxpayer money to be wasted. Questions remain about the developer's financial dealings.</p>

May 4 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>To build a sense of community and improve long neglected but heavily used bus stops, a community group in South Los Angeles has begun creating colorful outdoor living rooms to give residents a place to sit and chat.</p>

May 4 - The New York Times

<p>Americans who've lost their homes to foreclosure are now looking to rent, tightening up already low vacancy rates and driving up prices. Meanwhile, foreclosed homes sit empty.</p>

May 4 - The Wall Street Journal

<p>Nita and Mukesh Ambani are planning a $2 billion, 440,000 square foot, 27-story home for their family in Mumbai -- designed by architecture firms Perkins + Will and Hirsch Bedner Associates.</p>

May 4 - Forbes

<p>Transportation Secretary Mary Peters (or, more likely, her communications team) has taken up blogging, but the new PR outlet comes with a title that's not so friendly to all modes of transportation.</p>

May 4 - Streetsblog

<p>With elections coming up, local politicians are peddling various plans for the replacement of the Alaska Way Viaduct -- though there is increasing consensus around removing the freeway and creating a waterfront boulevard.</p>

May 3 - Crosscut Seattle

<p>A new 22-mile bridge -- which breaks the previous record of 20.2 miles set by another Chinese bridge -- will provide a faster road connection between the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Ningbo.</p>

May 3 - The Guardian